Methods for uplink control channel carrier switching

Abstract

PUCCH carrier switching at a UE may include decoding an RRC configuration including a time-domain pattern indicating a reference cell and a target PUCCH cell for one or more PUCCH transmissions at a given point in time. The reference cell may include a reference cell slot numerology and the target PUCCH cell may include a target PUCCH cell slot numerology. A slot for PUCCH transmissions may be determined based on the reference cell slot numerology, The determined slot may be used for transmission of at least one of an SR, a CSI, and a HARQ-ACK. The determined slot of the reference cell may be mapped to a corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell. A PUCCH resource may be determined for performing a PUCCH transmission using the corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell. The PUCCH resource determination may be based on a PUCCH configuration of the target PUCCH cell.

1 . A user equipment (UE) comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the UE to:
 decode a radio resource control (RRC) configuration including a time-domain pattern indicating a reference cell and a target PUCCH cell for one or more PUCCH transmissions at a given point in time, the reference cell using a reference cell slot numerology and the target PUCCH cell using a target PUCCH slot numerology; 
 determine a determined slot for PUCCH transmissions, the determined slot being used for transmission of at least one of a scheduling request (SR), a channel state information (CSI), and a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK); 
 map the determined slot of the reference cell to a corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell; and 
 determine a PUCCH resource for performing a PUCCH transmission using the corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell, the PUCCH resource determined based on a PUCCH configuration of the target PUCCH cell and by decoding a resource configuration including a plurality PUCCH resource identifications (IDs), wherein each of the plurality of PUCCH resource IDs corresponds to one of a plurality of candidate target PUCCH cells that includes the target PUCCH cell. 
   
     
     
         2 . The UE of  claim 1 , wherein to map further includes to:
 identify that the reference cell slot numerology and the target PUCCH cell slot numerology comprise a same numerology; and   generate a 1-to-1 mapping between first slots of the reference cell and second slots of the target PUCCH cell.   
     
     
         3 . The UE of  claim 1 , wherein to map further includes to:
 identify that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is less than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell; and   generate a mapping between first slots of the reference cell and second slots of the target PUCCH cell, the mapping including each given reference cell slot being mapped to a single target PUCCH cell slot that overlaps with the given reference cell slot.   
     
     
         4 . The UE of  claim 1 , wherein to map further includes to:
 identify that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is greater than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell; and   generate a mapping between first slots of the reference cell and second slots of the target PUCCH cell, the mapping including a single reference cell slot that overlaps with a given target PUCCH cell slot being mapped to the given target PUCCH cell slot, wherein other reference cell slots that overlap with the given target PUCCH cell slot are dropped.   
     
     
         5 . The UE of  claim 1 , wherein to map further includes to:
 identify that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is greater than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell;   generate a first mapping between first slots of the reference cell and second slots of the target PUCCH cell, the first mapping including a single reference cell slot that overlaps with a given target PUCCH cell slot being mapped to the given target PUCCH cell slot, wherein other reference cell slots that overlap with the given target PUCCH cell slot are dropped, the first mapping being applied to SR transmissions and CSI transmissions; and   generate a second mapping between the first slots of the reference cell and the second slots of the target PUCCH cell, the second mapping including each reference cell slot that overlaps with the given target PUCCH cell slot being mapped to the given target PUCCH cell slot, the second mapping being applied to SPS HARQ-ACK transmissions.   
     
     
         6 . The UE of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, configure the UE to:
 identify that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is greater than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell, wherein the determined slot of the reference cell comprises multiple slots of the reference cell that overlap with the corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell;   determine that an SR configuration and a CSI configuration each includes multiple PUCCH transmissions scheduled to occur in the multiple slots of the reference cell; and   based on the determination that the SR configuration and the CSI configuration each includes the multiple PUCCH transmissions scheduled to occur in the multiple slots of the reference cell, dropping an SR transmission associated with the SR configuration or dropping a CSI transmission associated with the CSI configuration.   
     
     
         7 . The UE of  claim 1 , wherein the time-domain pattern is associated with a duration of time in which the given point in time occurs, the time-domain pattern further including the plurality of candidate target PUCCH cells, the time-domain pattern indicating a particular candidate target PUCCH cell from the plurality of candidate target PUCCH cells to be used for PUCCH transmissions at each point in time during the duration of time. 
     
     
         8 . A method for physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) carrier switching at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
 decoding a radio resource control (RRC) configuration including a time-domain pattern indicating a reference cell and a target PUCCH cell for one or more PUCCH transmissions at a given point in time, the reference cell using a reference cell slot numerology and the target PUCCH cell using a target PUCCH cell slot numerology;   determining a determined slot for PUCCH transmissions, the determined slot being used for transmission of at least one of a scheduling request (SR), a channel state information (CSI), and a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK);   mapping the determined slot of the reference cell to a corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell; and   determining a PUCCH resource for performing a PUCCH transmission using the corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell, the PUCCH resource determined based on a PUCCH configuration of the target PUCCH cell and by decoding a resource configuration including a plurality PUCCH resource identifications (IDs), wherein each of the plurality of PUCCH resource IDs corresponds to one of a plurality of candidate target PUCCH cells that includes the target PUCCH cell.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein determining the PUCCH resource further includes interpreting an existing parameter associated with a PUCCH resource identification (ID) based on a PUCCH configuration of the target PUCCH cell. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 identifying that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is greater than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell, wherein the determined slot of the reference cell comprises multiple slots of the reference cell that overlap with the corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell;   identifying that multiple dynamic HARQ-ACK transmissions are scheduled to occur in the multiple slots of the reference cell;   concatenating a payload of each of the multiple dynamic HARQ-ACK transmissions in the multiple slots of the reference cell in a pre-defined order, concatenating including multiplexing the payload of each of the multiple dynamic HARQ-ACK transmissions; and   encoding a single PUCCH HARQ-ACK transmission using the multiplexed payload of each of the multiple dynamic HARQ-ACK transmissions.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 identifying that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is greater than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell, wherein the determined slot of the reference cell comprises multiple slots of the reference cell that overlap with the corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell;   identifying that multiple semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) HARQ-ACK transmissions are scheduled to occur in the multiple slots of the reference cell;   concatenating a payload of each of the multiple SPS HARQ-ACK transmissions in the multiple slots of the reference cell in a pre-defined order, concatenating including multiplexing the payload of each of the multiple SPS HARQ-ACK transmissions; and   encoding a single PUCCH HARQ-ACK transmission using the multiplexed payload of each of the multiple SPS HARQ-ACK transmissions.   
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium including instructions that when executed by a processor of a user equipment (UE), cause the processor to:
 decode a radio resource control (RRC) configuration including a time-domain pattern indicating a reference cell and a target PUCCH cell for one or more PUCCH transmissions at a given point in time, the reference cell using a reference cell slot numerology and the target PUCCH cell using a target PUCCH cell slot numerology;   determine a determined slot for PUCCH transmissions, the determined slot being used for transmission of at least one of a scheduling request (SR), a channel state information (CSI), and a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK);   map the determined slot of the reference cell to a corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell; and   determine a PUCCH resource for performing a PUCCH transmission using the corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell, the PUCCH resource determined based on a PUCCH configuration of the target PUCCH cell and by decoding a resource configuration including a plurality PUCCH resource identifications (IDs), wherein each of the plurality of PUCCH resource IDs corresponds to one of a plurality of candidate target PUCCH cells that includes the target PUCCH cell.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein to map further includes to:
 identify that the reference cell slot numerology and the target PUCCH cell slot numerology comprise a same numerology; and   generate a 1-to-1 mapping between first slots of the reference cell and second slots of the target PUCCH cell.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein to map further includes to:
 identify that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is less than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell; and   generate a mapping between first slots of the reference cell and second slots of the target PUCCH cell, the mapping including each given reference cell slot being mapped to a single target PUCCH cell slot that overlaps with the given reference cell slot.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein to map further includes to:
 identify that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is greater than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell; and   generate a mapping between first slots of the reference cell and second slots of the target PUCCH cell, the mapping including a single reference cell slot that overlaps with a given target PUCCH cell slot being mapped to the given target PUCCH cell slot, wherein other reference cell slots that overlap with the given target PUCCH cell slot are dropped.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein to map further includes to:
 identify that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is greater than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell;   generate a first mapping between first slots of the reference cell and second slots of the target PUCCH cell, the first mapping including a single reference cell slot that overlaps with a given target PUCCH cell slot being mapped to the given target PUCCH cell slot, wherein other reference cell slots that overlap with the given target PUCCH cell slot are dropped, the first mapping being applied to SR transmissions and CSI transmissions; and   generate a second mapping between the first slots of the reference cell and the second slots of the target PUCCH cell, the second mapping including each reference cell slot that overlaps with the given target PUCCH cell slot being mapped to the given target PUCCH cell slot, the second mapping being applied to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) HARQ-ACK transmissions.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein to map further includes to:
 identify that a reference cell subcarrier spacing (SCS) associated with the reference cell is greater than a target PUCCH SCS associated with the target PUCCH cell, wherein the determined slot of the reference cell comprises multiple slots of the reference cell that overlap with the corresponding slot of the target PUCCH cell;   determine that an SR configuration and a CSI configuration each includes multiple PUCCH transmissions scheduled to occur in the multiple slots of the reference cell; and   based on the determination that the SR configuration and the CSI configuration each includes the multiple PUCCH transmissions scheduled to occur in the multiple slots of the reference cell, dropping an SR transmission associated with the SR configuration or dropping a CSI transmission associated with the CSI configuration.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the time-domain pattern is associated with a duration of time in which the given point in time occurs, the time-domain pattern further including the plurality of candidate target PUCCH cells, the time-domain pattern indicating a particular candidate target PUCCH cell from the plurality of candidate target PUCCH cells to be used for PUCCH transmissions at each point in time during the duration of time.